1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temporary secure storage system. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system and method for storing a large number of handguns in a secure facility. Lockboxes or other storage containers are provided to patrons, who place a firearm within the box and seal the container using a biometric lock. The container is then placed within the storage facility and retained until the patron returns. Biometric input is supplied by the patron in order to facilitate retrieval of the firearm from the container. In this way, the system provides a temporary storage facility for firearms that can be used by patrons with concealed carry licenses, who need to visit a firearm-free area.
The second amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides that the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. With this provision, American citizens enjoy the ability to own a variety of firearm types, including rifles, handguns, and shotguns. The Federal government may not pace limitations on the public's ability to own firearms, nor can they prohibit the public from carrying the same. However, the Supreme Court of the United States has found limitations on the types of firearms that can be owned by private citizens constitutionally, meaning that bans on assault weapons do not violate the second amendment.
For public safety reasons, the States and their municipalities have placed minor limitations on the places arms may be born. Common examples of such limitations include the prohibition of firearm discharge on public lands or within municipality limits, along with a ban on carrying handguns in public places. Such measures are designed and intended to protect the casual public from exposure to loaded weapons and reduce the likelihood that a “fire fight” will break out on the streets.
Despite the good intentions of legislatures, many gun advocates protest the aforementioned limitations on the type of firearms they can own and the ways the arms can be used. Substantial outcry from law-abiding gun owners and the firearms lobbies has led to debate over whether the right to keep and bear arms has any legal teeth, if owners are relegated to only carrying firearms on their own property, and then only if the property is not within municipality limits.
Many states within the USA now offer concealed carry permit licenses that give the bearer the privilege of carrying a handgun on their person while within municipality limits or on public lands. The requirements for obtaining these permits vary widely from state to state, but they share the common goal of regarding law-abiding citizens and maintaining a registry of those persons who are armed in public.
Despite the freedom that concealed carry permits facilitate, they are not universal pass cards for carrying a firearm. Private businesses are permitted to forbid the concealed carry of firearms on their premises so long as visible signs or placards are displayed at the entrance to the building. Thus, arms bearers are forced to leave their hand gun in their vehicle while in the gun-free establishment. But, what if the gun owner walked, or rode a bicycle to the gun-free zone? The owner is left with no safe place to store the firearm. A temporary, easy-to-use storage facility is needed that ensures that patrons are lawful gun owners/carriers, thereby enabling gun owners to travel around a municipality without fear that they will be prevented from entering certain facilities because of their firearm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present invention provides a system and method for securely storing handguns in a storage facility. At least one main server is provided, which may be stored at a centralized facility and connected to servers at several satellite storage facilities. A number of storage containers having electronic lock mechanisms are stored in the satellite facility in a predetermined order. Each electronic lock mechanism is associated with an entry in a container database. This database maintains information about patrons while the patron's firearm is in storage at the facility. Information stored in the database is erased after the firearm is retrieved, thereby preserving the patron's anonymity. The following list of system and devices is composed of prior art deemed relevant to the present disclosure.
A method for implementing and automated vault system is described in Landwirth, U.S. Pat. No 7,497,376. A multiple chambered vault is utilized for the storage of safety deposit boxes of the like. Entry into each chamber is regulated via an identity confirmation system. Examples of identity confirmation systems include magnetic cards, smartchip cards, key pads, and biometric authentication. Confirmation of a user's identity at a first station enables entry into a first chamber. Once in the first chamber the user must confirm their identity using a second authentication system. This second system need not be the same as the first identity confirmation system. Successful authentication enables passage into the second chamber, where the safety deposit boxes are kept. This system facilitates automatic self-authenticating access to temporary storage. Unlike the Landwith system, the present invention only requires authentication for access to the interior content of a safety deposit box. The goal of the storage facility is to preserve the anonymity of its customers, and for this reason, customer identity is maintained only while a safety deposit box is in use. The storage facility itself is secure, but users can not gain access to the box storage area on their own.
Self-serve storage boxes are also described in Jenkins, U.S. Pat. No. 6,961,707. The system is an unmanned self-storage facility with storage units (rooms) in a variety of sizes. Customers can access the facility without needing any key but must provide identity confirmation in order to enter the storage unit area. Cameras and communication devices disposed throughout the facility facilitate monitoring of the customer as well as interaction between same and a remote operator. The operator can assist the user in signing a rental agreement, making payments, purchasing a lock as well as troubleshooting problems with storage units. The present invention differs from Jenkins in that it offers a secured entry area, storage boxes that are not accessible to the customer without the assistance of an operator. Further the locking mechanism of the present invention is incorporated into the storage boxes themselves and is not a post facto accessory.
A similar system is disclosed in McCarty, U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,660. The McCarty system is another unmanned self-service storage facility. It features kiosks at each storage facility location that facilitate interaction between a customer and a remote operator. Many operations can be completed at the kiosk, rather than requiring the presence of a physical operator. Unlike the McCarty invention, the present invention employs storage boxes that require individual identity confirmation. Further, the storage facility of the present invention does not permit users access to the area where storage boxes are maintained. Users may only approach the secure first chamber and then are provided with a storage box for use.
These prior art devices have several known drawbacks. They do not teach a system for providing customers with short term use of safety deposit boxes. Nor do they describe safety deposit boxes that the user can only access after confirming their identity to the container. The present invention overcomes these drawbacks by providing storage boxes that individually confirm a user's identity with each box he or she uses. It substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing secure temporary storage systems. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.